brent: this is "dw news," live from berlin. germany's chancellor reelected leader of her party. she is preparing for a fourth run for the nation's top job. in a powerful endorsement, angela merkel took almost 90% of the vote at the cdu conference. she also called for a ban on the burqa. we will bring full coverage of the party convention. u.s. president-elect donald trump takes on boeing. the cost of replacing air force one, he says, is out of control. read his tweets. and the senior commander of a

ugandan militias blamed for tens of thousands of killings pleads not guilty at the international criminal court. brent: i am brent goff. it is good to have you with us. she is one step further to becoming chancellor yet again. angela merkel has been overwhelmingly reelected as leader of her party, the conservative christian democrats, the cdu. she took 90% of the votes cast today at the annual conference. it gives her a boost as she seeks a fourth term as chancellor in federal elections scheduled for next fall. reporter: she did it again. germany's christian democrats reelected angela merkel as the party's leader. "i accept your choice and i am pleased with the result. my heartfelt thanks for your

trust." her speech was marked by self-criticism and pathos. merkel knows she demanded a lot of her party, and she warned the struggle is not over yet. "i cannot promise that things are going to get easier, because we must do with these times demand of us." she was referring to her government's controversial refugee policy, which many interparty question. she says last year's migration crisis must not be allowed to repeat itself, and she reached after critics by taking a hard line on one touchstone issue. "we show our faces in interpersonal communication. that plays a big role with us." that is why the full-face veil does not belong here. it should be for bid and wherever legally -- forbidden were ever legally possible. it does not belong in our

country. " but not even that speech was enough to silence opposition. "it used to be that what was called the cdu also really was the cdu. this is no longer the case. we have thrown many christian democratic principles overboard." merkel is up to the challenge. she has been voted in as party chair for another two years and wants to be elected chancellor once again. "our heart beats for germany and for europe, and for this we must work. for this we must inspire people come each and every one, if possible. that is what i stand for, and i ask for your confidence for this." merkel said she knows the upcoming federal election campaign will be no walk in the park. but the result of today's cdu party conference should make it a lot easier. brent: our political correspondent has been at the party conference today.

here is her take on what the german chancellor had to say today. reporter: so now it is official. german chancellor angela merkel will once again be leading her cdu party into the upcoming election campaign. as any delegates here will tell you, they support her in principle, but come and there is a big but, because angela merkel's open-door policy to migrants has cost her dearly in public and party political support amongst her own cdu delegates. the rival populist afd party is feeding off that could she avoided mentioning them in the speech but she knows they are out there and she knows the upcoming election campaign will be a tough one. angela merkel has long become a larger-than-life political brand. she knows her party faces pressure from the right, at the

same time she is busy filling her own political shoes. brent: that was our correspondent there from the cdu party conference in the western german city of essen. angela merkel's call for a public band of the fullface veil won the german leader overwhelming applause with the delegates other party conference, but on twitter, it met with a flurry of negative reactions. british -- a british author seems to be confused. he tweeted, "i can see why angela merkel would take a job to the right, but to open the door to muslim refugees and then ban the burqa? that is pretty messed up." independent party member nigel farage says she is behind the public. "too late, the horse has bolted." a refugee expert accuses the chancellor of hypocrisy. "angela merkel has called for a burqa ban in germany.

sigh. telling women what not to wear, that is not liberation." and the london blogger calls this a cynical ploy for votes. "angela merkel is definitely worried. a burqa ban is a la mode among european politicians seeking election victory." we will stick with politics and take it to the air. donald trump taking on boeing. reporter: in his latest move, trump has taken on the american playmaker. he wants to control government costs by canceling in order for new presidential planes. he said, "boeing is building a brand-new air force for presidents but costs are out of control. cancel order." the planes that president obama uses are getting old and boeing signed up to build the new ones

this year. here is how trump responded to reporters' questions about history in the lobby of his new york skyscraper. president-elect trump: well with the plane is totally out of control. it is going to be over $4 billion, the air force one program. i think it is ridiculous. i think boeing is doing a little bit of a number. we want boeing to make a lot of money, but not that much money. ok, thank you. reporter: trump has not specify the source for his claim that the new planes would cost $4 billion. the white house has said the figures are at least questionable. work on the new planes has not yet begun. brent: thank you very much. in other news, a senior come under -- commander of a ugandan militia blamed for tens of thousands of killings has portrayed himself as a victim of the group.

at least that is what he said in the trial, which got underway today. dominic ongwen pleaded not guilty to 70 charges at the international criminal court at the hague including murder, rape, and using child soldiers. he says the lord's resistance militia group kidnapped him and forced him to fight in its rights. prosecutors say he was one of the most influential deputies of lra leader joseph kony, who is still on the run. for more, we want to bring in the director of programs at child soldiers international, an ngo in london. it is good to have you with us. i want to ask you about the point of him saying he was a child soldier himself. using that as a defense, what is your take on that? >> well, by all accounts he was a child soldier, because he was recruited in his early teens,

although there is some disagreement as to how old he was exactly when he was abducted. and his defense team is likely to use this as the justification for him to avoid a guilty verdict. but he is prosecuted for crimes he committed as an adult, and as you say, he was very influential commander within the lra, so he should not of what criminal responsibility -- should not avoid terminal responsibility because he was convicted of service violations himself. his victims, who are probably still suffering as a result of the horrific abuse they suffered because of him, are entitled to justice and to reparations. what kind of justice with they get if dominic ongwen were to be completely exonerated of all criminal responsibility because he is a former victim himself? think of victims of sexual abuse, for example.

would they have no justice because their abuser were themselves the victim of sexual abuse when they were younger? however, it is very important to realize that is being a former child soldier is important to take into account at the sentencing stage, should he become guilty, as a mitigating circumstance. brent: standby. i want to pick up on the point of the lra conviction, the lord's resistance army. it murdered lots of children and kidnapped many others, turning them into soldiers. what happens to these children when a monthly turnout -- when they eventually return home? our next report looks at the struggle to rejoin society. take a look. reporter: machetes once used for appalling acts are now being used for constructive purposes. these former ugandan child soldiers were trained to maim and kill. but now their nightmare is over.

>> i was conducted in 1995. i stayed there for five years, and then i come back. they took me from my parents. reporter: he and many others fought for the lord's resistance army, or lra, today david bicycles and rebuild houses thanks to another former child soldier. he is helping those who managed to escape. >> at the peak of the war, i realized that there were no people helping these former child soldiers if they come back. so i decided to offer myself to help these children to have a place where they can sleep, eat, and get a future, someone to talk to.

reporter: most of them have spent years fighting in the bush. here at the organization friends of orphans, they are taught new skills, which also helps them to process their trauma. these former sex slaves and soldiers are being retrained as hairdressers or handymen. >> so far, we have seen 22 soldiers. out of all 22, 19 has been killed. so i survived among those. next time i come back, i have got my parents. they have killed them. so i come back and i love that they are not there. reporter: the lra terrorized northern uganda for many years. that is left to these former child soldiers heavily stigmatized. he believes that only by giving back to the community will these

haunted youngsters be able to create a place for themselves in society. >> in this process, at the same time, the community looks at these children and thought, well, we got these children were impossible, but these children just has problem, and they need help. reporter: richard convinced national and international sponsors to invest in his project. education and technical skills are key in helping the former child soldiers get respect in society. >> they begin to appreciate these children. this is telling the community through meetings in the community that these children and our children, they were forcefully abducted from us. reporter: friends of orphans has restored some joy to the lives of over 30,000 former child soldiers in northern uganda. they cannot get back their childhoods, but now they have some hope for the future, and a

peaceful place to call home. brent: a recent to hope for the future. -- a reason to hope for the future. how are former child soldiers reacting to this trial? >> well, we don't know exactly how they are reacting, all of them, but what is really important to bear in mind here is that without the sec these kinds may have -- without the icc these kinds may never have been investigated. thanks to this trial, their stories are going to be heard by the whole world, and they may obtain justice and reparations, which is very important, as we have seen from the trial of the armed group commander from the dlc. we are very supportive of the work of the icc and the office of the prosecutor because it is very important to hold them accountable and end this terrible violation and more crimes against children.

brent: ok, thank you very much. we appreciate your time. we are going to take a short break. when we come back, or business news and more world news. stick around.

brent: welcome back. you are with "dw news," live from berlin. story -- angela merkel has been reelected leader of her party, the cdu, with over 90% of the delegate vote pit she can prepare for the federal election next autumn and a possible fourth term as germany's chancellor. president-elect donald trump is picking a fight with the manufacturer of the presidential jet, boeing. he has tweeted that the cost to replace pleasant air force one is out of control and he wants to scrap a contract signed earlier this year. france has a new prime minister

tonight. bernard cazeneuve has been sworn in for the post at a ceremony at the elysees palace. cazeneuve takes over from manuel valls, who announced his resignation monday to focus on his bid for the presidency in next spring's election. he is a close ally of president francois hollande. the 53-year-old socialist has played a highly visible role in combating islamic extremism. cazeneuve used his inaugural speech to thank his predecessor and president francois hollande for leaving france through what he called dark times. >> we were all there during the tragedy that was the terrorist attacks in paris, which aimed to strike at the heart of the republic. and we all witnessed how the people remains standing in the face of that trial.

brent: here are some of the other stories that are making news around the world. the syrian government -- its troops have seized more of eastern aleppo. this footage released by government controlled media is said to show today's dawn attacks. monitors from the observatory for human rights says this gives the regime control of more than 70% of the city. this latest offensive by a syrian troops started around three weeks ago. iran's president, hassan rouhani , has warned that his country will not allow america's president-elect, donald trump, to rip up the historic nuclear deal. the deal lifted international sanctions on iran in exchange for limiting its nuclear program. at least 14 people have been killed in severe flooding in southern thailand. the country's interior ministry says more than half a million people have been affected.

waters in some areas are receding, but meteorologists are warning that more heavy rain is expected next week, raising fears for the area's important tourist industry. yep, that is a problem there. more business news. what we talking about? reporter: the u.s. supreme court has sided with smartphone maker samsung in its never-ending patent dispute with apple. the american rifle had won-- rival had won a $400 million judgment against samsung for copying parts of its design. justices argued that the features at issue were only a tiny part of the devices, and so the south korean company will only have to pay back a small proportion of the profits it may on the models under scrutiny. a lower court will decide how much. magic heading to europe -- imagine heading to your local

supermarket, grabbing what you need, and sadly walking out, without being branded -- simply walking out, without being branded a thief. that is a future according to retail giant amazon. in a store in seattle, customers can clock in with an app, pick up the items they want, and leave -- no lines, no cash. sensors track movements. right now, amazon staff are testing the system. the company hopes to roll it out to the public next year. germany's constitutional court has ruled utility companies are entitled to compensation over the government's energy transition. but it remains unclear how much that will be. to give you some background, germany decided to phase out nuclear power entirely after a major nuclear accident in the japanese city of fukushima in

2011. the utility companies claim they have effectively been dispossessed. reporter: a victory for germany's nuclear power providers. judges did not agree to shut down ordered by lawmakers in 2011 amended to an expiration of their assets. but they did rule in favor of compensation. "the plaintiffs incurred expenses in the period from 2010 to march 2011 with the expectation that power plants would continue to operate legally in the long-term. adequate compensation is required." some nuclear power plants have already been taken off the grid. the decision to hold operations at germany's 8 oldest nuclear power plants and to shutter the others after 2022 came after the fukushima nuclear disaster in

2011. it marked a sharp reversal by merkel. reporter: pollution levels in paris are soaring. no wonder it is hard to get a clear view of the skyline. how do you deal with that? you cannot ban all cars in the city altogether, but banning drivers of cars with on-numbered registration plates -- odd- numbered registration plates is a start, at least for a day. reporter: the paris skyline, obscured by a thick like it of smog. images like these have urged the government to take action. cold weather and low winds are preventing toxic themes from being dispersed. on tuesday, drivers of cars with odd-numbered registration plates were banned from the roads. but not everyone was playing ball. this driver claims she hadn't heard about the ban.

while this man found it hard to contain his frustration. "it annoys me. on the sales man -- i am a sales manager minding my car. i've people to pay at the end of the month and i am blocked." provisions were able to use public transport -- parisians were able to use public transport free for the day. that led to other issues. "for me it is a good thing, but at the same time, it is a bit annoying because most people know that public transport is free today, so everyone is tacking onto the train. there's hardly any space. that is a real pain. " paris has committed to banning all diesel vehicles by 2025. in the meantime, drivers of on numbered cars -- odd-numbered cars can breathe a sigh of relief. when the next ban comes around,

they will be the ones allowed on the road. reporter: maybe they will do that in berlin one day. brent: we will have to see. now we go to texas. watch out for the gravity. a woman was killed when a single swallowed her car near the city of san antonio. by monday money, emergency responders switched from a rescue to a recovery mission. the 69-year-old victim crashed her car into -- look at this -- a four-meter-deep sinkhole in the middle of the road. heavy rain and a ruptured sewer line are likely to have been the cause. sports now. in tennis, boris becker and novak djokovic have ended their working relationship according to german media. djokovic won six grand slam titles with boris becker in three years. the split, according to reports from is due to becker refusing to extend his contract with

djokovic. tae kwon do and cross-country skiing may seem unlikely bedfellows. but after carrying the nations flag at this year's rio olympics, charismatic tongan athlete is hoping to make the switch from the summer games to the winter games in south korea in 2018. reporter: best known for his oiled up appearance at the opening and closing ceremonies of the real lyrics, this does rio olympics, this tae kwon do expert has set his sights on another performance, to become -- >> cross-country skier. reporter: what he lacks in experience, he make support and confidence. >-- makes up for in confidence. >> i will be taking my olympic dream one step further and be representing tonga in cross-country skiing.

reporter: first he has to qualify, but the aim is a medal, and he has a secret weapon. >> we have the island spirit and you'll see me a lot sooner because the polynesian spirit isn't going anywhere. reporter: with that spirit, he may once again claimed the ligh limelight in 2018. brent: these days in this note you may want to put on a code. angela merkel has been reelected leader of her party, the cdu, with almost 90% of the vote. that means she can prepare for the federal election next fall and a possible fourth term as germany's chancellor. u.s. president-elect donald trump is picking a fight with the manufacturer of air force one, boeing. he has tweeted that the cost of her placing air force one is out of control and he wants to scrap a contract that was assigned earlier this year.

don't forget, you can always get "dw news" on the go. download our app from google play or the apple store. that will give you access to the news around the world as well as push notifications for breaking news. you can also use the app to send us photos and videos when you see news happening. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. we will have more on angela merkel, the german chancellor. now she has to save the free world. can she do it? we will be right back. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

announcer: euromaxx highlights. here is your host. anchor: hello, everyone. it is a pleasure to join you in this week's highlights. let's get a glimpse of these weeks top stories. style guide. eugeni quitllet is a design industry authority. free fall. skiers who make breakneck moves into movies. culinary stars. the delectable secrets of swiss gourmet chefs. spanish industrial designer eugeni quitllet is constantly looking for new materials and production methods. he has found a winning formula that strikes a balance between form and function. he was even named designer of